ESML belongs to Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, a leading applied science university in Portugal. With over 600 students in undergraduate and graduate studies, it offers degrees in Music (orchestral instruments, piano, organ, guitar, ancient music, singing, opera studio, jazz, composition, orchestra and choral conducting, music education), Music Technology, Music in the Community and Music Teaching. It offers 2 doctoral programmes in association with 2 universities in Lisboa, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL) and Universidade de Lisboa (UL).
It is installed in a modern building, which include an auditorium of 400 seats and studio facilities.
ESML has a very intense activity throughout the academic year, producing concerts, masterclasses, and workshops, both at the school’s facilities and outside. Being a partner with many of the cultural institutions in Lisboa and elsewhere in Portugal, its musical community of students, teachers and different ensembles are regularly presented in venues such as Teatro São Luiz, Centro Cultural de Belém, Gulbenkian Foundation, among others.
Apart from the musical creation process, ESML is deeply involved with all aspects of music research, both formal/academic and informal or practice-based, leading to the production of specific artistic projects and its recording (video/audio), allowing for, and promoting a written reflection on all aspects of modern musical creation.